Lights, Camera, Teddy: The Percy 51³Ō¹Ļ School Student Whoās Making Waves
12 year old Teddy is no stranger to exciting opportunities. Hear about his amazing journey into stardom so far.
Ever since Teddy was 18 months old, heās been a natural in front of the camera. Most recently, he had the incredible opportunity to play a role in BBC Oneās Call The Midwife. We sat down with Teddy and his mum Nicola to talk about his remarkable career so far.
What was filming Call the Midwife like?
Teddy said:
āI played Andrew Trottwood and he caught measles. It was long days, I was getting picked up at like twenty to seven! I didnāt think it would take 10 days just to film the scenes I was in. I didnāt get used to it until like the third day. We filmed last September, and I could only tell people once the episode aired in January.ā
He had great chemistry with his on-screen mum, Jill Trottwood (played by Joanna Horton). Teddy didnāt have a speaking role, but he remembered everyone elseās lines ā including helping his on-screen mum out when she forgot hers!
On Teddyās final day on set, he baked them biscuits and decorated them. On Joannaās biscuit, he iced āDonāt forget your linesā onto it.
This is just one of the many projects Teddy has been involved in, but it wasnāt always so straight forward.
Nicola said:
āWe paid for photoshoots at a modelling agency when he was 18 months old. They said āheās fabulous, heās got potentialā but as heās disabled, he wonāt get any work. We felt a bit disheartened and second guessed whether this was what we should do. But we went away and said no, letās try againā.
They then signed with Zebedee Management, the first modelling agency in the UK known to work with individuals with disabilities. Teddy signed with them in that July and booked his first job by the October. Since then, Teddy has been on CBeebies, a LEGO advert, a Sky Cinema advert, modelled for photo shoots (including M&S) and even attended a red carpet premiere.
āThereās a stigma that people with disabilities canāt achieve thingsā, Nicola said.
āThat is just not true. Everybodyās different, it doesnāt matter if you can walk, canāt walk, canāt talk, thereās something out there for everybody.ā
āBelieve you can do it, and donāt put pressure on yourself. And if you believe and your child’s happy and they want to achieve and do that thing, then just pursue it and don’t listen to what anybody else says you can or can’t do.ā
Teddyās achievements at such a young age are nothing short of amazing, and we cannot wait to see what he goes on to do next. Watch the video below to hear more from Teddy and Nicola!